Oregon ~ Early Settlement
Oregon was organized as a Territory in 1818, and
admitted into the Union with the present prescribed
limits on the twelfth of February, 1859. Bounded north
by Washington, east by Idaho, south by Nevada and
California, and west by the Pacific Ocean. The broad and
romantic Columbia runs along the northern border, and
Snake River, Lewis Fork of the Columbia, runs for nearly
two hundred miles along its eastern border. The
astronomical position of the State is between the
degrees of -42 and 46.20 latitude, and 116.30 and 121.30
longitude, giving it an area of 95,274 square miles; or,
in round numbers, 61,000,000 acres of land. Of this, the
general estimates have been that 10,000,000 acres wore
arable, but explorations and experiments have
demonstrated the fact that much of the land formerly
regarded as desert, or only fit for grazing purposes,
was well adapted for tillage, and it is now estimated
that 25,000,000 acres may be classed as fit for
cultivation, the remainder being forest and grazing
lands, lakes, or mountain peaks above the region of
vegetation.
Historically, Oregon is the most important division of
the Pacific Coast. The early French, Spanish, and
English navigators, prior to the independence of
America, had sailed along the coast, but it fortunately
remained for Captain Robert Gray, an American, in the
ship Columbia, from the Boston, who on the 11th of May,
1792, crossed the bar and entered what proved to be a
large river, making a chart of the channel and
surroundings, and naming it after his ship, the
Columbia. Although the English explorers, Vancouver and
Broughton, shortly afterwards entered the river and made
extensive surveys, and claimed the country for the
British, who for many years hold possession, the
discovery by Captain Gray secured the region for the
Americans. The etymology of the name of Oregon is
shrouded in mystery. By some writers it is attributed as
coming from origanum, the scientific name of the wild
marjoram which grows profusely on the coast and might
have been observed by the early explorers, By others the
name is supposed to have come from the Spanish Origin,
the name they might have given to the Indians who
distended their ears by artificial means, as the French
voyagers named one tribe the Pend 'Oreilles. The most
probable solution is that it is an Indian word, first
recorded by Mr. Jonathan Carver, an adventurous traveler
of the Mississippi Valley, in 1766, who had heard the
word applied to a great river of the west, and thus
without knowing its meaning or to what it was applied,
it was adopted as the name of the great region west of
the Rocky Mountains drained by the Columbia. This on the
old maps occupied the territory lying between the
forty-second parallel of latitude and that of
fifty-four-forty, and between the Rocky Mountains and
the Pacific Ocean. Both the British and Americans
contended for (he sovereignty for many years, often
threatening war, but finally, in 1846, by treaty with
England, the forty-ninth parallel was adopted as the
national boundary, from the Lake of the Woods to the
Gulf of Georgia, or Puget Sound. In 1848 Oregon was
organized regularly as a Territory of the United States
within the present limits, although previously the
people had maintained a form of territorial government
of their own organizing, and was admitted as a State of
the Union in 1859.
Since the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada, Oregon
has greatly prospered. The liberal policy of the United
States Government in granting farms to actual settlers
secured to the hardy pioneers their lands, with little
cost and with perfect titles. With such a foundation the
general prosperity was assured, and the State, in
proportion to its inhabitants, boasts a wealth second to
none in the Union. The population is now estimated at
100,000, and the assessed value of property in 1873 was
$40,700,159. The total State indebtedness is $503,256.
The amount of taxes levied by the Legislative Assembly
in 1873 for the expenses of the State Government was
$238,482, showing economy in government and light
taxation. Having passed through many trials and
hardships, the early pioneers wore taught lessons of
industry and frugality, and these principles became
fixed before the extravagant period that followed the
discovery of gold in California. As a consequence
salaries, interest and wages are low and financial
panics are unknown. Schools, churches, and newspapers
are established, all of a high order, the best evidences
of the character and enlightenment of the people.
The physical features of Oregon are its bold, unbroken
coast, forest-clothed and snow-capped mountains, deep
and fertile valleys, noble rivers and rolling plains.
The coast has a bold, northward trend, inclining
slightly to the east, with an extent of about 300 miles,
having but few harbors or roadsteads. The Chetco River
enters the ocean near the southern border, but offers no
good harbor or anchorage. A possible landing is effected
at the mouth of Rogue River, in latitude 42° 25', but
the channel over the bar is so intricate and dangerous
that very few vessels have ever attempted it. Port
Orford, in latitude 42° 44' north, and longitude 124°
29' west, is regarded as the best summer roadstead on
the coast between San Francisco Bay and the Straits of
Fuca. The available landing and the fine timber in the
neighborhood give the place some importance, which would
be greatly enhanced did not the precipitous mountains
cut off communication with the interior. A few miles
northwest is Cape Orford, or Blanco, one of the
principal capes of the coast Coquille River enters the
Pacific in latitude 43° 07', and although a large
stream, of some forty yards in breadth, is so obstructed
at the mouth as to destroy its use as a harbor. Coos
Bay, in latitude 43° 21', is one of the most important
harbors on the coast of Oregon. The entrance is quite
difficult, as the sea usually breaks on the bar, but
regular lines of steamers and calling vessels are
engaged in the trade between the several towns on the
bay and San Francisco. Extensive coal mines are found in
the vicinity, and the surrounding mountains are covered
with valuable forests, and these form the basis of an
important commerce. The bay is irregular in shape,
having the form of a horse shoe, one light arm extending
south wardly, the other and principal arm having a total
length of about twelve miles, with an average width of
three-quarters of a mile. Other arms join it which
increase its navigable area.
The Umpqua enters the ocean in latitude 43° 42', and
although a large river of some 200 miles in length, and
navigable for sixty miles, it is so obstructed at the
mouth as to prevent its acceptance as a harbor. The bar
has a depth of about thirteen foot, but is changeable.
The Yaquina River and bay form a small harbor, nine
miles north of Cape Perpetua, having a depth of but nine
and a half feet at low water, with a narrow channel and
swift current, rendering navigation difficult. Elk River
also enters the bay, and is navigable for light draft
steamers to Elk City, a distance of 26 miles. The
Nehalem, is the next considerable stream south of the
Columbia, entering the ocean. The bar at the mouth has a
depth of about 18 feet, and when inside the river widens
out into a deep lagoon of four miles in width by eight
in length.
The Columbia is the great river of Oregon, and in fact
the largest of the Pacific Coast, excepting the Yukon,
of Alaska, but the bar at the mouth and the heavy
breakers upon it detract from its value as a convenient
and safe harbor. The river, at its mouth, is about five
miles broad, and flows with such a strong current in
time of freshets that water for ship's use can be taken
up on the bar. Once inside, the river shores afford many
fine harbors. Astoria, near the mouth, has a good
harbor, and is a place of historical interest, but the
great shipping point of Oregon is at Portland, on the
Willamette River, 110 miles from the ocean, and 13 miles
from the Columbia. This is at the head of ship
navigation of vessels drawing 18 feet of water. Ocean
steamers and large sailing vessels navigate the Columbia
to the Cascades, a distance of 160 miles from its mouth,
and above those, after a portage of six miles, the river
is again navigable for small steamers for a distance of
400 miles, to Lewiston, in Idaho, with the interruption
at the Dalles, or Rapids, at the eastern base of the
Cascade Range, fifty miles east of the first falls. The
main Columbia, or north branch, is navigable, with
several interruptions, for nearly 1,000 miles, far into
British Columbia. Large steamers ascend the Willamette
to Portland; and with the exception of the fall of forty
feet at Oregon City, the river is navigable for small
steamers a distance of 200 miles, to Eugene City.
The Cascade Range of mountains, running north and south,
between the 121st and 122nd degrees of longitude,
divides the State into two divisions, called Eastern and
Western Oregon. This is a grand range, having many of
the outward features of the Sierra Nevada, with the
lofty peaks of Jefferson and Hood standing as sentinels
along its high walls, while eastward is the elevated
plateau characteristic of the basin of Nevada, and
westward arc the valleys of Rogue River, the Umpqua, and
Willamette, with the forest-covered ranges of mountains,
and the mild climate peculiar to the Pacific coast. The
western division, containing about one-third the area of
the State, is the most populous and wealthy, and is
itself divided into valleys and mountainous sections of
different characteristics.
The Willamette Valley constitutes the chief subdivision
of the west, having a length of one hundred and forty
miles, and an average width of forty miles, or an area
of agricultural land of over three million acres, and
including the foothills, an aggregate of over five
million acres. The Willamette River runs from south to
north, through the entire length of the valley, rising
in the Cascade Range, in latitude 43° 20', and after a
sinuous course of some three hundred miles, joins the
Columbia. Several branches of considerable size enter
the Willamette, the principal of which are the North and
South Santiam, Mill Creek, Pudding and Clackamas, and
many tributaries of those on the east side, and the Long
Tom, Luckiamute, La Creole, Yamhill, and Tualatin on the
west, several being navigable for short distances, and
the main stream being navigable through eight months of
the year to Eugene City, near the head of the valley.
The Umpqua Valley lies south of the Willamette, from
which it is separated by the Calapooia range of
mountains. The valley is large and fertile, though
composed more of rolling hills than level plains. The
Umpqua River rises in the Cascade Mountains, and running
westerly, draining the valley which bears its name, then
breaks through the Coast Mountains to the ocean. South
of the Umpqua is Rogue River Valley, which bears many
features of resemblance to the one north of it. These,
with the several ranges of mountains near the coast, and
the small valleys enclosed, constitute Western Oregon, a
region of temperate climate, and unlimited resources in
soil, forests and mines.
Eastern Oregon comprises the elevated plateau east of
the Cascade Range, embracing an area of 63,000 square
miles, of peculiar formation. The principal rivers of
the Division are the Snake, or Lewis Fork of the
Columbia, Des Chutes, John Day, Umatilla, Walla Walla,
Grande Rondo, Powder, and Malheur, and in the southeast
is the Owyhee; besides rivers and creeks of lesser note
in every section. The southern portion is a basin with
but little, if any, watershed to the sea, containing
within itself twenty or more lakes, from one to thirty
miles in diameter, and from this feature is designated
as the "Lake Country.'' This region is generally barren,
but about the lakes are extensive marshes, capable of
reclamation and cultivation. The lakes and marshes are
great resorts for water-fowl, which gather about them in
myriads during the spring and summer, and here hatch
their young. The principal lakes are the Klamath, 20
miles long by 6 miles wide, connected by Link River with
Little Klamath, 9 miles long by 6 wide; Goose Lake, 30
miles long by 12 wide; Lake Albert, 15 miles by 5 in
area; Summer Lake, containing about 90 square miles;
Silver Lake, 48 square miles; Harney Lake, the largest
in Oregon, having an area of 200 square miles; the
Christmas Lakes, a chain of 50 miles in extent; and
Warner Lake, which is 35 miles in length by 5 in
breadth. From its peculiar features and historical
events, the Lake Country is of great interest. Being
occupied by many tribes of warlike Indians, several wars
and massacres have occurred, the campaign of General
Crook, and the recent Modoc war being the most notable.
The Blue Mountains, Stein's Mountain, and numerous other
ranges and peaks are in this division of the State, and
are generally metaliferous. The rivers flowing into the
Snake and Columbia are bordered by valleys of
considerable size, and containing much agricultural land
of great value and mines of gold and silver in river
beds and adjacent hills are profitably worked.
The arable lands of Oregon are very fertile, and the
climate and seasons are such as to make them exceedingly
productive, which, with their vast area, makes it one of
the most promising of the agricultural States of the
Union. Although the cultivation of the soil has been the
chief occupation of the people, this is far from being
the only resource, if, indeed, it may be called the
predominant one. The forests are extensive, and grand in
character, and generally so accessible to navigation
that the manufacture of lumber, pitch, tar and
turpentine, constitutes an important branch of industry.
Minerals of such variety, value and extent exist, that
mining may at some time dispute the precedence of
importance with agriculture. These comprise every class,
including coal, iron, lead, copper, salt, silver and
gold, all in large quantities, while minerals of nearly
every name are found to a greater or less extent. The
gold mines of the southwestern counties have been worked
since 1850, and although for some years have been
neglected and the product declined, the same steps of
improvement that are advancing the mining interest in
California are felt in Oregon, and the great gravel beds
that are known to exist are threatened with the attacks
from the hydraulic "giants" and "monitors." Gold-bearing
veins of quartz are known to exist in large numbers, and
attempts have been made to work them; but from want of
capital, and, perhaps, of skill, no great success has
been made. The importance and future value of this
branch of mining cannot be doubted. The regions of the
Umpqua, Rogue River and the Illinois in the southwest,
and of the John Day, Powder and Malheur in the
northeast, are gold-bearing, comprising a vast extent of
territory, which is also productive in agriculture.
Silver, copper, and lead are found in the same sections,
and invite the capitalist to the development of this
resource.
Iron ore of great purity is found, and is successfully
mined in Clackamas County, west of the Willamette River.
Those bods are practically inexhaustible; and situated
as they are in the midst of majestic forests, covered by
a fertile soil, and on the banks of a navigable river,
give proof of the grandeur of the resources of Oregon.
Hut the list of minerals of this great State does not
end here. Coal, one of the most useful of all, is found
in various localities, and is mined with some success.
This mineral is found along the coast and on the banks
of the Columbia, convenient for shipping. At Coos Bay it
is mined extensively, and the mining towns of Newport,
Eastport and Empire City, are thriving places. A line of
coal-carrying steamers ply regularly between Coos Bay
and San Francisco, and many sailing vessels are engaged
in the trade. The coal region appears to-bo large, as
the developments, encouraged by the success of
established enterprise, are extending the fields, and a
number of new mines are opening. Besides those upon
which great operations are conducted, limestone, marble,
salt, fire and potter's clay, and other useful minerals
are found, which will ultimately constitute sources of
wealth, comfort and domestic economy to the people of
the State.
Thus it will be soon how richly is the country stored
with all that is required for the comfort, luxury, and
happiness of man; with mines of the precious and useful
metals, a soil of unsurpassed fertility, forests of the
grandest proportions, great navigable rivers; and
overall is a genial sky, blessing it with a climate of
no extreme of heat or cold. This wealth is for the
future. Population and development are required, and
those will rapidly obtain when markets are found for
surplus products. Here, as elsewhere through-out the
Pacific Coast, all is in a condition of unrest, where
but few persistently aim at the accomplishment of a
single object; but generally, with wild energy and
unfixed ideas, are in pursuit of something soon to be
abandoned. As a consequence, business in every branch is
like a gambling venture; property is valued as the
caprice of the multitude governs; fortunes vary with the
tide, and full development is slow. The very riches of
the country make people unsteady, and only sudden wealth
satisfies. Under a different condition of business and
ideas, perhaps after a period of stagnation, the
resources will be developed systematically, and
advancement be rapid and permanent.
The manufacturing capabilities cannot be surpassed by
any country in the world, not even England, which, with
its small area, has become the wealthiest kingdom on the
globe. The many rivers, with abundant water and rapid
fall, furnish unlimited power, or its forests and bods
of coal supply the fuel necessary for propelling by
steam all the machinery that could be required, and from
the soil, the timber and the mines, can be taken the
material to be worked upon.
Commercially, Oregon is favorably situated. The sea
coast harbors have been noticed. The Columbia, with one
of its principal branches, the Snake, wash its eastern
and northern border, and the Willamette and Umpqua and
their branches give several hundred miles of inland
navigation, so branching through the farming, lumbering,
and mining regions as to give the greatest accommodation
to business. Those rivers, moreover, are abundantly
stocked with salmon, one of the highest prized fishes of
the world, and the capture and preservation of this
engages a large capital, and the catch returns an
aggregate of about $2,000,000 annually.
Railroads now come to the assistance of commerce, and
are rivals of the free watercourses. The Northern
Pacific, from Duluth, on Lake Superior, to Columbia
River and Puget Sound, is the great projected line of
the north, and, when built, will have a great influence
on the prosperity of Oregon, although not entering the
State. The Puget Sound Division is completed, by which
means rapid communication is maintained between Oregon
and the cities and towns of Washington and British
Columbia. The Oregon and California Railroad, the most
important of the State, now extends from east Portland
southward to Roseburg in the Umpqua Valley, a distance
of 200 miles, whence stages continue to the completed
portion of the California and Oregon Railroad at Redding
in California. The Oregon Central Railroad runs on the
west side of the Willamette River, from Portland
southward to St. Joseph, in Yamhill County, a distance
of about 50 miles. A great road from some point on the
Oregon and California, to join the Central Pacific at or
near Winnemucca, in the State of Nevada, is projected,
and active steps have been taken toward the commencement
of operations. Thus this brief review shows the progress
and wealth of the State, and an examination of the
resources give a bright promise of the future. The
resources, condition and physical features of localities
will be more completely noticed in the descriptions of
counties and towns.
Pacific Coast Business Directory
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Oregon Directory Index

Source: Pacific Coast Business
Directory for 1876-78, Compiled by Henry G. Langley, San
Francisco, 1875.
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